The Antares rocket gets ready to roll

NASA/Bill Ingalls / (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

An Orbital Science Corporation Antares rocket is seen as it is rolled out to launch Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility Tuesday, December 16, 2013 in advance of a Thursday launch, Wallops Island, VA. The Antares will launch a Cygnus spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The Orbital-1 mission is Orbital Sciences' first contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. Among the cargo aboard Cygnus set to launch to the space station are science experiments, crew provisions, spare parts and other hardware. Launch is scheduled for 9:19 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 19. Weather permitting, it may be widely visible along the east coast of the United States. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

An Orbital Science Corporation Antares rocket is seen as it is rolled out to launch Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility Tuesday, December 16, 2013 in advance of a Thursday launch, Wallops Island, VA. The Antares will launch a Cygnus spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The Orbital-1 mission is Orbital Sciences' first contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. Among the cargo aboard Cygnus set to launch to the space station are science experiments, crew provisions, spare parts and other hardware. Launch is scheduled for 9:19 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 19. Weather permitting, it may be widely visible along the east coast of the United States. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls) (NASA/Bill Ingalls / (NASA/Bill Ingalls))

Tamara Dietrich

The Antares rocket — ready to roll!

The Antares is rolled out to the launch pad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island in the wee hours Tuesday, preparing for its launch to the International Space Station, now scheduled for 9:19 p.m. Thursday.

The booster will be carrying a Cygnus cargo spacecraft stuffed with necessary payload and science experiments, and will mark the first official commercial resupply mission by Dulles-based rocket-maker Orbital Sciences Corp.

The mission has been delayed a few times now because of a glitch last week with the cooling system on the space station, but NASA engineers and station crew are working hard to figure out what happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

NASA says a fix could mean a suite of spacewalks by astronauts beginning Thursday, which would delay the Antares launch even further.

Once it launches, though, the Antares should be visible from Hampton Roads and up and down the Eastern seaboard, so long as the weather cooperates.